This page gives a brief description of the process of
washing raw wool, up to the point where it is ready to card. I am an
animal lover and have had pets of all kinds all my life, however, I have never
owned sheep or llamas or alpacas. When I first started buying raw wool, I
didn't know what to expect. Wool rovings are fully prepared for spinning,
and as such are "fairly" expensive to buy. Being frugal, I
decided to look into buying wool as a fleece. This is the most economical
way to buy wool, right after it has been sheared from the animal. This is
also the way to learn how dirty a sheep can get. :)

Below is a photo of a bag of raw wool. This is from
the sheep breed Texel, not yet a dominant breed in the U.S., but it is one in
Europe, specifically Ireland, and being of Irish descent, I thought it would be
a great wool to try. The bag holds about 3 pounds of raw wool. Texel
is similar to Merino in that the lanolin in the wool turns its color to an
orange-beige while on the sheep. The tips of raw wool get the dirtiest,
even with the best-kept sheep. The lighter areas of the wool are the
fibers that are the most newly-grown on the animal.

Not everyone keeps their sheep the same - some are kept on
pastures, some in barnyards, and some sheep are free-range, meaning they wander
over larger areas. This also applies to other animals such as llamas,
alpacas, and Angora goats. So, when buying a fleece or raw wool, it is
wise to check out the animal's home conditions if possible, because it will
affect how dirty a job you have ahead of you in preparing the wool. The
Texel below was what I would call "very clean" by sheep
standards. There was vegetable matter and dried dirt and other barnyard
soil, :), but it was in a moderate amount compared to the amount of wool.
The amount of these materials determines how difficult the task of washing
is. The actions needed aren't difficult, but the dirtier the wool, the
longer it takes to get it to the condition required prior to carding it.
If your first soaking of the wool yields black water, there are manure "tags" in
with the wool. These will dissolve in the very-warm to almost-hot water,
but an additional soaking may be required.

Three pounds of fairly clean Texel wool fiber

Below is a photo of the first step in washing the wool,
letting it soak. This particular photo is of Rambouillet sheep
wool.

Dirt and other contaminates will either dissolve or rinse
out, but it usually takes at least two or three soakings.

Wearing rubber gloves, I place the wool in a container
filled with very warm (almost hot) water and Ivory liquid dish soap. Any
gentle liquid soap will do. Again, depending on the amount of soil, this
first soaking can be from 2 hours to an overnight soak. You can judge by
how dirty the water gets when the next soaking should start.

The first two soakings generally produce fairly dirty
water. In between these two, I continue to wear rubber gloves and use a
stick (or two) to gently move the wool around in shallow water to loosen up the
soil. Too much agitation of the wool at any stage is harmful to the
fibers. I also spray the wool with clean water at this stage. Only the
first soaking is very warm water for fairly clean wool- after that I use lukewarm to cool
water. If manure tags are present, there are at least two soakings of
very-warm to hot water. In my opinion, it is better to put the wool
through additional hot-water baths, than it is to take a chance on not removing
all traces of manure tags. After rinsing at the end of each soak, I fill the container again for a longer soak, and
repeat the process. By the third soaking, the wool is white or its lighter
color, and the only foreign matter that remains is hay or sticks or other
vegetable matter that is clinging to the wool and will need to be carded out,
unless, as mentioned above, additional soaking was needed.

Rambouillet wool in a second soaking

Below is a photo of the Texel wool after the second
soaking. Although it looks very clean, there is still dirt trapped under
the weight of the wool, and it will get another soaking. The yellowish
areas are little pockets of lanolin still in the wool.

Texel after the second soaking

After all of the soaking is complete, I gently squeeze the
wool to remove any excess water. Below is a photo of the washed Texel wool
at this stage. I then lay it out evenly on a towel or blanket to dry naturally.
In other words, I treat it like my favorite sweater,
using little agitation in the washing, and gentle care in the drying.

Clean Texel wool, ready to be carded

A basketful of Merino, waiting to be carded.

Wool can be stored with a dried lavender sachet - to
naturally repel moths and other insects:

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